Not only are the reading club children from Westonaria powerful readers, but they’re translators too! These young, brilliant minds translated a poem into their mother tongue – which is a powerful way to help them take ownership of their language!

Take a look:

English

If all the world were paper

If all the sea were ink

And all the trees were bread and cheese

What would we drink?

Afrikaans

As die wereld bestaan het uit paper

As die boeme van brood en kaas alles hier

Se nou al die oseane was ink

Wat sou daar vir ons wees out e drink ?

Setswana

Fa lefatshe  lotlhe nkabo e le pampiri

Fa lewatle lotlhe nkabo e le enke

Le ditlhare tsotlhe nkabo e le borotho le  tshesi

Re ne re tla nwa eng?

 isiXhosa

uba umhlaba ubu liphepha

uba ulwandle ubu yi inki

ne mithi iyi sonka ne tshezi

be sizo sela ntoni?

Sesotho

Ha nkabe lefatshe nkabo e le pampiri

Ha nkabe lewatle nkabo e le enke

Le sefate nkabo e lebohobe le tshese

Re ne tla nwa eng?

siSwati

kube umhlatsi be kuli phepha

kube ulwadle kuli inki

ne tihlahla beku se sinkwa ne tsheze

be sito natsha ini?

Sepedi

Ga ne lefase e le pampiri

Ga ne metji e le enge

le dihlare e le bogobe le tshese

re ne re tlo go nwa eng?

Xitsonga

Loku mesavha a ye li phepa

Loku lwandle (mati) a ye li inki

Na mesinya yile sinkwa ne shizi

Ayeya ko nwa yini?

isiZulu

Uma umhlaba ube uliphapa

Uma ulwandle luyi inki

Ne zihlahla beziyi sinkwa ne cheese

Be sizo phuza ini?